Final Thoughts From the Supernatural Episode "Red Meat"

Thoughts from the season 11 television episode that first aired March 30, 2016.

Synopsis: Sam (Jared Padalecki) convinces Dean (Jensen Ackles) to investigate a possible werewolf attack and is shot during the ensuing battle. Believing his brother to be dead, Dean decides to once again kill himself so he can try to negotiate with the reaper, Billie (Lisa Berry), offering to trade his life for Sam's.

Sam and Dean Are Losing Their Edge

I've mentioned this before but this episode only helped to support my opinion. Sam and Dean need to spend less time in the bunker and more time in the field if they want to remain in good enough fighting shape to defeat Amara (Emily Swallow).

First of all, two seasons ago, Sam would never have been seriously injured fighting a couple of werewolves. Even before he was shot in this episode, he and his brother were getting knocked around pretty badly.

On top of it, they just didn't seem as sharp as they've been on the mental side of things. The bartender (Suki Kaiser) was obviously setting them up and they didn't catch it. Plus, Dean didn't think to do a once-over of Michelle (Erin Way) and Ben (Toby Levins) to make sure they weren't bitten?

Well, to be fair, he was distracted by his brother bleeding him on the floor so I'll give him a pass on the latter. But, still, it didn't take a genius to know they were being sent into an ambush.

Billie is Going to Have a Big Role at Some Point

Right now, she's a relatively minor recurring character. But, I suspect the show keeps reminding us about her for a reason.

My guess is one or maybe even both of the Winchesters is going to be killed in the season finale, putting Billie's promise to make sure they stay dead to the test. Either she's going to change her mind at the last second or it will set up next season's premiere.

Where is Metatron?

I only bring this up because we are reaching a point where the war with Amara is going to come to a head at some point and Sam and Dean are still no closer to figuring out how to beat her.

While he's never been trustworthy in the past, it just seems to me Metatron (Curtis Armstrong) would be as good of choice as any in this situation. As God's right hand man, he would have intimate knowledge about how to defeat Amara and where the tools they need to beat her are located.

Now, whether or not he would actually help them is debatable. But, it just continues to seem odd they aren't at least making an effort.

Speaking of Werewolves....

This episode really got me thinking about Garth (DJ Qualls) and how the former hunter/werewolf is doing. Is he still with his "family?" Does he hunt on occasion? Is he still keeping his nose clean or did he finally end up killing someone?

I think, once this whole Darkness storyline is done, the show really should have Sam and Dean catch up with Garth just so we can get an update on how his life is going.

Final Opinion

Overall, I did like this episode because of the suspense with Sam's injury and Dean (not knowing his brother was still alive) risking everything to save him. However, as I mentioned before, if they don't step up their game soon, I have serious doubts about their ability to defeat Amara.